Enfield Young Health Advocates
Listen to Act has a history of working closely with GP practices to enhance patient engagement. In 2023, we published four guides outlining how to create and maintain excellent patient engagement.
Our work now largely focuses on engaging with young people and we have an award-winning foundation of prioritising their active involvement in shaping the communities they live in - and services they use - behind us.
One of the key findings from the guides in relation to young people was that they want to gain insight and knowledge of GP practices but conversations need to be relevant and engagement needs to happen on their terms.
I would like for me and other young people to be able to access support whenever we need without being judged
- Young person
With all of this in mind, and thanks to long-term funding, we are embarking on an exciting journey to create sustainable infrastructure for young people aged 14-25 in Enfield initially to collaborate closely with GP Practices and other key stakeholders to influence and shape how this vital service can operate more effectively for the diverse community of young people in the borough.
A crucial part of this work is also to build the confidence and knowledge among GP practice staff and create and enhance lines of communication between staff and young people, utilising existing initiatives like Patient Participation Groups (PPGs).
Partnership working is a important element in any project and this is no different - we will begin and sustain conversations with relevant Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations, local authority and partners at Enfield GP Federation and North Central London Integrated Care Board to enable and facilitate our work.
We aim to recruit 8-10 young people from across the borough to join a Young People’s Advisory Group (YPAG) and work closely with up to 10 GP practices over the span of the project.
The YPAG will be a supportive space designed to empower its members to create and curate all facets of the group using our established model of community engagement with a focus on giving power and agency so that they can actively create change for themselves and their peers.
If you are aged 14-25, you can register your interest in joining the joining the YPAG here, and we will be in touch. Initial meetings will begin in early 2025.
If you are GP practice interested in getting involved, please contact Alex directly - details below.
For more information on this project, please contact our Youth Engagement Manager, Alex, on alex@listentoact.org
